You Could Be Hindering Your Success with This Important Factor

Hello, everyone! It’s Joy again. For today’s Motivational Monday post, I would like to talk about an important factor of success that most of us ignore or dampen. One of the most encouraging and honest quotes that I have heard about success has been,

“The strongest factor for success is self-esteem: Believing you can do it, believing you deserve it, and believing you will get it.”

If you need a little boost in confidence and self-esteem, I’m here to help. I know – first hand – just how hard it can be to start believing in yourself after people (and – most importantly – YOU) have been putting you down for a long period of time.

Remember that it’s never too late to change how you feel about yourself and to begin that healing process. Check out these helpful tips to help you get started on that road.

#1) Dress for Success

Let me begin by telling you a little story. When I first began my career as a writer, I was ecstatic. I get to follow my dream, people paid me to write, and I got to spend a lot of time in pajamas (which is a perk of the job). However, as the days grew into weeks, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t happy. In fact, I felt horrible about myself. I decided to make one change and it totally turned me around: I got dressed.

Yes, going to work in pajamas seems like the dream, right? Comfy clothes and I don’t get to stand around and talk to angry customers all day…, what’s there to be sad about? Well, I found out the hard way, just how important your attire is for success, self-confidence, and self-esteem.

So these days, I get up, get showered and dressed (usually jeans or a skirt and button-up shirt or t-shirt and sweater vest) and head to the office – which is just down the hall. Let me tell you, the commute is awesome.

#2) Think Positive

Thinking positive is easier than it sounds. You just have to be aware of your self-talk. How do you talk to and about yourself while you’re thinking? It may seem farfetched now but before you scoff, just think about it. It doesn’t have to be like this necessarily…

…but you get the idea.

#3) Know Yourself

Take a personal day. Actually, it would be ideal if you could take a whole weekend for yourself. Get away from your busy, hectic life and concentrate on yourself for two whole days. Go to the places that you want to go to.

Check out your local library or Barnes and Noble and look into the nonfiction section to find topics that you are interested in (yes, I said TOPICS – as in more than one). Find your passion.

#4) Know and Live Your Personal Values & Principles

Find out what your values are (you can find them while you are working on number three). Think about your principles and values and try to incorporate them into your life a little more. Do you think being generous and kind is one of your key principles? Try to volunteer some of your time into helping others. Work it in slowly and you will soon find that it will be an automatic response to life toward these values.

#5) Stand Tall

This goes back to number one. If you dress sloppily and slouch, you’ll be less confident than if you dress smartly and stand tall.

Do this quick exercise: scrunch yourself down in your computer chair or slouch a little. How do you feel? How do you think people perceive you? Now stand up or sit up tall. How do you feel now? Do you feel better about yourself? How do you think others might perceive you now?

Don’t let a fear of failure stop you from achieving success and reaching for your dreams. Following our passions is one of the few things that we can do and control in this crazy world.

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” – E.E. Cummings

Don’t forget to grab a FREE COPY of my book, Acting for Real! All you have to do is press that beautiful, green button below.

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About the Author

Thom McFadden, known as Hollywood’s “Coach to the Stars”, has been helping actors, writers, producers, directors and hundreds of other entertainment industry professionals to achieve new levels of success for over twenty years through his personal coaching and life-changing seminars and courses. Thom has been featured in 26 mainstream movies and over 100 television shows over his illustrious career.